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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26332435">Wait</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/CharWright5/pseuds/CharWright5'>CharWright5</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Haikyuu!!</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Background Miya Atsumu/ Hinata Shoto, Canon Related, Getting Together, M/M, Manga Spoilers, Minor Iwaizumi Hajime/Oikawa Tooru, Soulmate-Identifying Marks</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 13:27:07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,957</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26332435</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/CharWright5/pseuds/CharWright5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Over your lifetime, Marks appear on your arm, symbolizing your Soul Mate and what's important to them. But even if you find them, it doesn't mean you'll end up together... At least not yet...</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Kageyama Tobio/Miya Osamu</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>303</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Haikyuu: Spiker-Setter Week</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Wait</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>
  <b>For Spiker-Setter Week Day Two: Soul Mate AU</b>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>I dunno man. I just wrote this and hope it makes sense</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Kageyama Tobio was born with his first Soul Mate Mark, a Libra sign on the inside of his left wrist. According to theories that had seemingly been proven right time after time, being born with a Mark already there meant that your Soul Mate had actually been born first, that they were older than you. Chances were, at that very moment, his Soul Mate had been graced with their first Mark, too: the symbol of Capricorn.</p><p>It wasn’t much to go on, never was for anyone. After all, how many people were born under the Libra star sign? How many people out there had a Capricorn symbol inside their left wrist. Even if they met, there was no guarantee that they were meant to be Soul Mates, that they’d found one another. No, his grandfather had said it was better to wait, to have more symbols show up, to be sure. After all, the combination of symbols would only fit one person, would only be significant to one person.</p><p>In the meantime, his grandfather suggested, Tobio was to focus on himself, on his own life and likes and things that made him happy. Too often folks relied on those symbols, changed their personalities and hobbies and habits out of a misguided belief it would make them more appealing to their Soul Mate, when said Soul Mate would love them no matter what. Tobio remembered listening to his grandfather in awe, the words sinking deep inside of him.</p><p>Still, he couldn’t help but wonder when more would show on his skin, wonder what showed up for his Soul Mate…</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>💙🍙💙🍙💙</p>
</div>Volleyball was big in his family. His grandfather had played it, had passed the love for the sport down to his kids and his grandkids. It felt like a good constant in his life, the only constant in his life at times. Tobio was too young to remember his parents when they died, but bumping a ball, practicing his serves, playing with his sister, it felt like a way to keep them close to his heart.<p>It felt like fate when a volleyball showed up on the top of his left forearm, near the back of his wrist. It was already something he and his Soul Mate had in common, something they could bond over. He wondered if they’d be on the same team in the future, play together, form a partnership based on time on the court.</p><p>He forced himself to stop thinking those thoughts.</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>💙🍙💙🍙💙</p>
</div>Soul Mates weren’t always a guaranteed happy ending. Divorces were all too common, whether due to rushing into things and believing you’d found your Soul Mate early on, only for more symbols to appear and you realize it wasn’t them, or because you’d forced yourself into enjoying whatever symbol showed up for you and you made yourself miserable, leading to friction and an eventual dissolution of your relationship.<p>Tobio’s first encounter with Soul Mates in real life was when he was in middle school, watching his <i>senpais</i> Iwaizumi and Oikawa. Because Iwaizumi had the constellation for Oikawa’s star sign and an alien and a milkbread and a volleyball. Because Oikawa had Iwaizumi’s star sign and a stag beetle and Godzilla and a volleyball. But they weren’t together, despite how obvious they were meant to be.</p><p>At spring inter-highs, Tobio noted how their left arms bore each other’s numbers now, how the closeness between them had increased and even to him felt more intimate.</p><p>He also noted the Argentinian flag on Iwaizumi’s arm and a bear on Oikawa’s. He found out later on that they broke up after graduation and headed to different parts of the world. It wasn’t until nearly their thirties that they got together and stayed together.</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>💙🍙💙🍙💙</p>
</div>When Tobio was finishing his second year of junior high, a new symbol appeared: a silhouette of a fox with a <i>torii</i> gate surrounding it, on the inside of his forearm near his elbow. He didn’t want to, but curiosity got the best of him and he spent the night Googling what it could mean, what significance it could have. At the end of it, he found himself with a strange new expertise in the goddess Inari, her kitsune messengers, and her shrines that featured the same shaped gates as the one now gracing his arm.<p>It wasn’t until he got the next issue of his high school volleyball magazine and saw the results of that year’s nationals tournament that he learned there was a high school named after her. Part of him had been tempted to learn more about it, about their team, to see if <i>maybe</i> there was <i>something</i> he could figure out.</p><p>He knew there wouldn’t be.</p><p>Besides, it wasn’t as though he knew what to look for in the first place. He had no clue what Marks his Soul Mate bore that would represent him, meaning he’d have no clue who exactly would be the one destined for him. He was better off waiting, like his grandfather had always said to.</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>💙🍙💙🍙💙</p>
</div>For some reason, Hinata Shoyo seemed to have it out for Tobio from the very first day of senior high. And Tobio being naturally competitive, he took it as a challenge, forming a rivalry that would wind up lasting decades, although neither of them knew that at the time.<p>The first time they played each other to exhaustion, the gym all to themselves, and their pettiness quashed, Tobio caught sight of Hinata’s Soul Mate Marks… and paused.</p><p>They were eerily similar to his own, the same fox and <i>torii</i> gate, the same volleyball, the same star sign. It almost felt as though they had the same Soul Mate.</p><p>Except… those with more than one Soul Mate had Marks on both arms and Tobio was missing anything related to Hinata, as Hinata was missing anything related to Tobio. As time wore on and more Marks appeared, they learned that it wasn’t the same person, that they weren’t gonna be forced to share. Both of them had been too dumb to realize the truth of why they were so exact.</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>💙🍙💙🍙💙</p>
</div>The day Karasuno handed out their jerseys had given Tobio his first sense of panic regarding his Soul Mate. A few days before, the number <i>eleven</i> had appeared just below the volleyball he already had and while he wasn’t the brightest at things off the court, it wasn’t hard to surmise that it would be his Soul Mate’s jersey number.<p>Tsukishima Kei was a douchebag who liked picking on Tobio, poking at still open wounds regarding his old junior high moniker, the one that saw him being abandoned during his last tournament. He also happened to be handed the number eleven jersey.</p><p>Tobio felt panic well up in his throat, felt his chest get tight, his eyes darting down to take in the Marks on Tsukishima’s left arm. But the images of constellations, tacos, a tiny puppy, and the Scorpio symbol all pointed at the other first year currently trying on the jersey that matched the number on Tsukishima’s arm, the twelve glaringly obvious.</p><p>Not Tobio’s Soul Mate, but rather another case of childhood friends potentially becoming more. Tobio still had to wait.</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>💙🍙💙🍙💙</p>
</div>Being invited to the Japanese Youth Camp was an honor Tobio could hardly believe. Traveling to a new city was confusing though and his advisor’s directions didn’t help, given Tobio’s difficulty reading them. But he found it and he made it and he was surrounded by the best talent the nation had to offer in his age group.<p>Miya Atsumu was the opposite in terms of personality and unlike any other setter Tobio had ever dealt with or watched. Oikawa had an uncanny ability to bring the best out of other players, standing out while allowing them to shine. Kozume was sneaky and intelligent, trick plays and deceptive moves that belied his lazy appearance. Akaashi was quick to read the pace of the game, his teammate’s moods, and those of the other team, making him cunning and quick.</p><p>Miya wasn’t like that at all.</p><p>While he was incredibly talented and gave Tobio a run for his money, he wasn’t a setter who adapted to his team and brought out their skills, but rather expected everyone else to adjust to him, follow his lead. He expected his players to jump and reach his sets regardless of where he placed them and if they couldn’t, it was on them and they had no place being on the same court as him.</p><p>Tobio was the opposite, preferring to set the ball to where his players could most take advantage, pacing himself to them, their timing, their heights.</p><p>It earned him the attention of Miya, who confronted him one day during cool downs, calling him a “goody two shoes”. The nickname felt almost like the opposite of his reputation back in Miyagi, where others believed him to be tyrannical and expect them to match him, but here, he matched the others instead.</p><p>But then his eye caught the Marks on Miya’s arm and any rebuttal died in his throat. The volleyball was a common one for all the players there, as were jersey numbers, this one a blaring number 10, right next to a set of black wings… like a crow’s. He also caught sight of a meatbun and what he was pretty sure was the symbol for the Cancer star sign…</p><p>Miya caught his staring and blatantly turned his own eyes to Tobio’s arm and Tobio showed them off, not embarrassed. Some folks kept theirs private, covered them with make-up or long sleeves or arm cuffs. Plenty players on the court wore compression sleeves so the focus would be on the game and not what pictures they wore. </p><p>Tobio wasn’t that type. He saw no reason to hide.</p><p>But given the way Miya’s eyebrows rose to his hair and the cocky smirk left his face, maybe he should have.</p><p>Their eyes met, understanding passing between them, recognition.</p><p>“I ain’t gonna tell ya and you ain’t gonna tell me,” Miya declared and Tobio nodded.</p><p>It was better to find out on your own.</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>💙🍙💙🍙💙</p>
</div>Karasuno was buzzing when he returned, everyone wanting to know what Tobio had been up to, who he’d met, what the players were like. He never knew what to tell, what to share during these times, flatly giving information about the drills he’d run, the games they’d played, the skill level of those he’d trained with in a taste of what was to come when they headed to nationals soon.<p>His eyes kept drifting to Hinata, who was listening with rapt attention, eyes sparkling in the way they always did when anything volleyball related happened. Tobio conveniently left out the part where he’d met the guy’s Soul Mate.</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>💙🍙💙🍙💙</p>
</div>Facing off against Inarizaki felt like fate, although Tobio wasn’t sure if it was good or bad.<p>Finding out Miya Atsumu actually had a twin brother… it made a lot of shit suddenly understandable. His and Hinata’s similar Marks and the recognition that had been on Atsumu’s face at their shared camp, it was all due to the gray haired man standing beside him, his exact copy.</p><p>For the first time, Tobio suddenly understood why Hinata was always rushing off to the bathroom before a big game, nerves swirling in his stomach and making him almost nauseous.</p><p>He was about to defeat his Soul Mate or be defeated by him. It felt like the movies.</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>💙🍙💙🍙💙</p>
</div>Movies always portrayed that moment of meeting your Soul Mate as this magical thing where sparks fly and music swells, hearts racing and birds flying.<p>Tobio always thought it was fictionalized, used to sell tickets or books or dvds, whatever.</p><p>In reality, it was the scent of sweat and Salon Pas. It was the ragged breathing after a long game and calloused palms shaking hands with the other team. It was loud cheering, beating taiko drums and high pitched screeches of Miya Twins Fangirls who had no clue that at that very moment, their idols were meeting their Soul Mates.</p><p>Miya Osamu constantly wore a deadpan expression, in stark contrast to his overly expressive twin. He was more subdued, relaxed, making him sneaky on the court as he slammed the ball past you before you realized he’d hit it. It was the first time Tobio had encountered anyone who could match his and Hinata’s “Freak Quick” and it made sense it was coming from not only a twin, but his Soul Mate.</p><p>Reaching under the net to shake his hand, Tobio felt his heart hammering in his chest, felt his lungs struggle even more, felt his stomach flipping again, felt his sweat coated skin buzzing. Osamu had callouses on his palm, rough skin and fingers thick as they smoothed over Tobio with sparks that ignited where contact was made. Hooded gray eyes went wide, brightening as his mind made the connection, too. Tobio’s heart was in his throat, threatening to choke him as the moment weighed down on him.</p><p>Everything else melted into a dull buzz, the world around the edges fuzzing out. It was just Tobio and Osamu, their clasped hands, the Marks on their arms that the two of them unabashedly inspected. A volleyball, the Capricorn sign, a crown, a crow, a carton of milk, the number nine.</p><p>It was Tobio in black images, just as he wore Osamu in the same way.</p><p>Officials called for them to clear the court.</p><p>Osamu withdrew his hand and walked away, breaking the spell.</p><p>Atsumu told Hinata he was gonna set for him one day and Tobio only stared, wondering why it was that Hinata was able to have this moment, this declaration, this promise of a future, when he’d gotten nothing.</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>💙🍙💙🍙💙</p>
</div>Karasuno fell in the tournament.<p>Hinata got sick and Atsumu managed to make it to his side before he was even discharged.</p><p>Tobio didn’t see or hear from Osamu until the following year, when the two teams once again faced off.</p><p>The past twelve months had been… trying to say the least. Tobio watched as Hinata excitedly bounded about with talk of emails and texts from his Soul Mate, care packages sent back and forth, sharing selfies and showing off. Meanwhile, the guy’s twin was acting as though his Soul Mate didn’t exist.</p><p>Not that Tobio could say much there. It would’ve been just as easy for him to ask Hinata to ask Atsumu for Osamu’s number or Line info, <i>something</i> with which to use to contact him.</p><p>But he didn't.</p><p>He told his sister. Ranted. Vented. Even broke down and cried at one point. And she let him, while giving him advice, pointing out that it probably wasn’t anything personal. Lots of folks found their Soul Mates and didn’t make a move, believing themselves to be in need of improving something about themselves, wanting to be in a better place in life to be a better Soul Mate.</p><p>“You’re still in high school,” she pointed out. “So is he. You’ve got plenty time. Focus on your grades, they’re more important.”</p><p>So he did. His grades improved. His skills on the court got better.</p><p>It wasn’t enough.</p><p>Inarizaki beat them and this time, Tobio and Hinata were the ones watching from the stands as their opponent went on in the tournament. This time, they watched the team they lost to win it all.</p><p>They both had new Marks on their arms, on top of their forearm, near the elbow, large to signify their importance. Hinata had a wolf looking thing. Tobio had an onigiri.</p><p>Hinata went out to join Atsumu for a celebratory dinner.</p><p>Tobio went back to the hotel with their team.</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>💙🍙💙🍙💙</p>
</div>Time passed by. Everyone grew older.<p>Just before graduation, Hinata announced he was heading for Brazil to learn beach volleyball. And while his voice was full of excitement and his arms were flailing in their usual manner, there was a sadness in his eyes. Tobio was reminded of his old <i>senpais</i>, flying across the world separately, and he wondered if they had or ever would reconnect.</p><p>It was obviously something Hinata was worried about, despite his determination to leave anyway.</p><p>Before he left, he showed Tobio a picture that Atsumu had sent him, the angle and blurriness a hint that it had been taken quickly and secretly. On it, was a forearm, a left one, with a familiar bird logo of a professional volleyball team.</p><p>Tobio didn’t need to be told it was Osamu’s arm, a new Mark meant to symbolize Tobio’s future.</p><p>A phone number was attached with a message to pass it to him. Tobio programmed it into his phone… and did nothing with it.</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>💙🍙💙🍙💙</p>
</div>Being on the Adlers with a player he’d once prevented from going to nationals and another player who’d cut his run in that very tournament short was shocking at first. But as Tobio practiced with them, he soon got in the groove and realized they had something special.<p>Romero was a player he’d looked up to for years and it took him a while to get over being starstruck around him. The way he would rub Tobio’s head after a job well done was patronly in a way he hadn’t had in a long time.</p><p>Hinata had sent a mass text of a selfie featuring himself and Oikawa to practically every phone number he had--and probably then some. It wound up being the catalyst for Oikawa and Tobio reconnecting and hashing out old grievances, his former <i>senpai</i> apologizing and sounding far more zen than he ever had.</p><p>“I’m just in a good place is all,” Oikawa argued, sniffing indignantly. “Could be better, but it’s good.”</p><p>Tobio didn’t need to hear the details. It was obvious that Oikawa was referring to Iwaizumi, especially when his next comment was unsolicited advice and what the topic of it was.</p><p>“Make sure your Soul Mate knows you cherish them, okay? Makes shit a whole lot easier.”</p><p>It felt like a hint, even if Oikawa was unaware he was making one and was more likely just airing his own troubles, venting from experience.</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>💙🍙💙🍙💙</p>
</div>Tobio never reached out. Neither did Osamu.<p>A new Mark showed up near his onigiri, the kanji for “Miya” in a circle, looking as though it had been painted. Soon after, he found out about the opening of Osamu’s new restaurant, “Onigiri Miya”. He made it as far as the door before he turned away and left.</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>💙🍙💙🍙💙</p>
</div>Four years after graduation, Tobio and Hinata reunited in the most apt way possible: on the court.<p>Or rather, behind it, near the bathroom.</p><p>And right beside him, was Hinata’s Soul Mate.</p><p>“Wouldja mind not pickin’ a fight with <i>my</i> wing spiker?”</p><p>The words were a taunt in a way Atsumu always seemed to behave and they definitely had an affect, but probably not in their intended way. Tobio felt his throat get tight as he wondered once more about why one twin could be so open and accepting and on board, while the other wasn’t.</p><p>He once again reminded himself that he wasn’t exactly making any moves himself and while he wanted to use the excuse his sister had given him back in high school, time away to improve himself, better himself, make himself worthy… he wasn’t entirely sure if it was true, that there wasn’t more to it than that.</p><p>After all, he was in a good place in his life, playing professional volleyball in a way he’d always dreamed of, being picked for the National Team. He had a nice apartment, was playing better than ever, and had come to a peaceful point in his life where the nickname “King of the Court” no longer grated on him or felt like an insult.</p><p>Still… he’d avoided the booth with the familiar Onigiri Miya logo, avoided the man setting up his product to sell.</p><p>He couldn’t… shouldn’t…. avoid him forever.</p><p>He wouldn’t.</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>💙🍙💙🍙💙</p>
</div>The reunion game turned into a reunion dinner that the Adlers all had to chip in and pay for. It was their home turf, they’d lost, it was only fair.<p>Tobio didn’t care, just threw in some cash to cover his own expenses and whatever other his bills would pay.</p><p>Drinks flowed and food was passed around. Conversations were loud and the laughter was louder and it felt like the controlled chaos that his first year with Karasuno had been, bringing a smile to Tobio’s face. </p><p>Yet his eyes continuously slipped to a further end of the table, to the attractive man with the black baseball cap and matching longsleeve, engaged in conversation with his brother and future brother in law.</p><p>Tobio slipped away at some point, everything <i>too</i> loud and his chest too tight to take it. And it wasn’t long before his solitude was invaded, before he was turning to tell whoever it was that he was fine, go back to the party, he’ll return soon…</p><p>Only to stop.</p><p>Because Osamu had only gotten better looking over the years. His shoulders were broader, chest wider, smile easier. His hat was gone and so was the gray hair he’d had in high school, back to natural black and trimmed shorter. </p><p>“Ya played great out there,” Osamu greeted and Tobio felt that drawl curl around him, sink into him, taking root and fluttering in his stomach.</p><p>Years before he would’ve argued, pointed out his flaws, what he’d missed, debated that he couldn’t have played great if they lost. Now though, he smiled, easy and soft, took the compliment for what it was.</p><p>“Thanks. Although I kinda figured you’d be watching your brother more than me.”</p><p>Osamu snorted and rolled his eyes before reaching down to whip off his longsleeve… and revealing an Adler’s jersey, Tobio’s number 20 printed on the fabric… and Osamu’s left wrist, on the opposite corner of the volleyball from the nine he’d had before.</p><p>“Been followin’ yer career,” Osamu admitted, scratching at his hat hair. “I would-a reached out sooner, but I wasn’t sure if you were ready for any of it.”</p><p>Tobio thought about it, considered it all, remembered past moments when the opportunity presented itself for him to reach out and connect with Osamu on his own. </p><p>But he’d been too focused on volleyball and Osamu had been focused on launching his restaurant and he knew…</p><p>“I wasn’t,” he admitted, shrugging a shoulder. “I am now, if you are.”</p><p>Osamu grinned, wide, beautiful, gray eyes sparkling before he closed the distance between them.</p><p>Those same sparks from years ago came back, stronger, and Tobio felt as though he was going to vibrate out of his skin as their lips pressed together in the first kiss of many to come.</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>💙🍙💙🍙💙</p>
</div>More Marks appeared over their years together.<p>Stars along the side of Tobio’s forearm when Onigiri Miya received five of them in a review in a major restaurant magazine that had him buzzing for weeks after.</p><p>A gold medal on Osamu’s when Tobio won it in the Olympics.</p><p>Both were bragging points they were sure to draw attention to when others asked about their Soul Mate.</p><p>But there were also shared Marks, identical in position and shape and size. The logo of the bar where they’d had their first kiss. A sakura blossom from the tree Tobio proposed under. Leaves representing their fall wedding. The birthdate and star sign of their son.</p><p>Years passed, turning into decades, and left arms full of symbols of lives well lived.... and very well loved. And as Tobio looked at them every morning during his shower, as he ran his fingers over his Soul Mate’s every possible moment, he knew that it was well worth the wait in order to gain what he did.</p>
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